Meet Milo, founder of Be Straw Free

Milo Cress, who was 9 when he started this project in February 2011, is the primary spokesperson (and primary Instigator, his mother likes to say) of the Be Straw Free project. He has held an interest in the environment and conservation from a very young age.

2007: Milo awarded the Mr. Peabody Award for his design for a Solar-Powered Popcorn Machine.

2008: Thomas Hand (Hand Energy Services) and Jim and John Hand (Hand Motors) help Milo build his Solar-Powered Popcorn Machine from his design, and he and his Popcorn Machine were featured in the LiveGreen Expo 2008, (front page Bennington Banner, Sept. 1, 2008), where he demonstrated his Popcorn Machine to then-Vermont Governor Douglas and the many other people in attendance.

February 2011: Milo testified before the Vermont Natural Resources and Energy Committee at the State House in Montpelier, VT. MIlo also met with Governor Shumlin to tell him about the Be Straw Free project.

March 2011: Milo interviewed by Jennifer Reading on WCAX Evening News. The story was picked up by CNN and broadcast in Europe.

Spring 2011: The National Restaurant Association formally recognized Milo's Offer-First suggestion as a best practice for restaurants nationwide.

May 2011: In response to Milo's letter to Mayor Bob Kiss asking to work together to make Burlington, VT the "First StrawFree City in America," the Mayor issued an official Proclamation declaring Offer-First as a Best Practice in Burlington VT. Mayor Kiss is the first to ask restaurants city-wide to adopt an Offer-First policy for drinking straws. Anyone who wants a straw can have one, but restaurants are asked to offer straws to patrons rather than putting one in every drink.